Teaching for justice

Since 2007, Tony Talbott has been a professor at the University of Dayton, but in 2010, his teaching career took on a new life — he launched one of UD’s first courses focused on fighting human trafficking.

Talbott has been interested in global justice issues such as child poverty, labor exploitation and human rights for a long time, but hadn’t realized the scope of human trafficking in Ohio, especially in the Dayton area until several years ago.

After hosting the Dayton Human Trafficking Accords in 2010 — which brought together experts from federal, state and local levels to raise awareness about the issue — students saw how it was impacting the city and surrounding areas. 

“Students got pretty fired up about that,” Talbott said.

“Once we saw how big of an issue it was in our own community, there was no going back.”

Motivated by his students’ passion, Talbott approached the chair of the political science department, Jason Pierce, with a proposal for specific coursework examining human trafficking and the issues around it.

“I wanted to start a class,” he said. “I got a grant from Campus Ministry, and the first section filled as soon as registration opened.”

Originally capped at 30 students, Talbott was able to raise it to 40, then 50, and finally to 65, more than double what he anticipated. The student interest was overwhelming, and the class was relocated to a classroom in the Science Center to accommodate all the students. 

Talbott’s efforts soon extended beyond the classroom. Working alongside Ohio Rep Teresa Fedor of Toledo, Talbott and a few UD students started advocating for a major legal milestone: making human trafficking a standalone felony in the state of Ohio, allowing the crime to be prosecuted on its own rather than only as part of a broader offense or element of another crime.

In 2011 he co-founded Abolition Ohio, an anti-human trafficking coalition, which continues to meet monthly. The group recently celebrated its 142nd meeting.

“We decided that someone needed to step-up and coordinate anti-trafficking efforts to raise awareness of them.” Talbott said. 

One of Abolition Ohio’s signature programs that they participate in is the SOAP Project, which stands for Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution.

Founded by Theresa Flores ’07, a UD master’s of education graduate and survivor of adolescent trafficking, the SOAP Project utilizes volunteers to label hotel soaps and makeup wipes, distributed around the state, with hotline numbers and messages that could help victims find help and safety.

Each year, Talbott brings Abolition Ohio volunteers to campus to help train UD students and other volunteers in trafficking awareness. Then, the group sends teams to distribute soap and educational materials to local hotels and motels. The next event will be held in March.

Beyond his work at UD, Talbott serves on the Ohio Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Commission, representing this part of the state and chairing its Prevention Committee. His goal is to stop human trafficking before it even has a chance to begin.

“There are two ways to fight human trafficking,” he said. “One is legal — by increasing penalties for buying sex. The other is cultural, by teaching men and boys that exploitation and abuse are wrong.” 

Talbott said changing culture is harder, but necessary. "It's the most effective path to ending trafficking,” he said.

Photos courtesy of Tony Talbott.